Keep the T
Pulling up the ladder is not progress
By ANJALI IYER — amiyer@ucdavis.edu
Last week’s midterm election was a resounding success for progressives as Democrats rode the “blue wave” to a resounding victory. The country is witnessing many historic wins, including the election of the first female Native American governor, the first Muslim senator and the first openly gay senator. Young progressives are experiencing their first surge of hope for progress since the Obama administration and newly elected representatives are voicing their promises to enshrine constitutional rights.
Though these landmark elections have thrown a long-overdue wrench in the Trump administration’s fascist machine, Republicans have still managed to pass a slew of regressive policies. In the face of popular progressive candidates, the conservative establishment has fallen back on perpetuating tired wedge issues in hopes of furthering political polarization — pushing divisive social policies to mobilize single-issue voters.
After Republicans won the battle to undermine federal protections for abortion in 2022, the party has introduced a new moral panic: the transgender issue. Conservatives have manufactured controversy around the concept of transgender women in gendered sports — a gross misinformation campaign to eliminate transgender people from public life under the guise of “protecting female athletes.”
When the myth first emerged from the depths of the conservative media slop machine, I anticipated the “trans women in sports” narrative would effectively propagandize the average Jesse Watters or Tucker Carlson fan. However, I wasn’t prepared for how far this outlandish conspiracy would spread. I especially did not anticipate this anti-transgender sentiment would find a willing embrace in parts of the LGBTQ+ community.
Among the most vocal anti-transgender advocates are the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) — an oxymoronic pro-gay group affiliated with the Republican party. The Log Cabin Republicans are a part of the movement to drop the “T” from LGBT acronym, alienating transgender people in favor of aligning with the Republican establishment. The LCR’s talking points are drivel that characterizes trans acceptance as “radical gender ideology” and moral policing that echoes far-right sentiment.
Anti-transgender gay individuals have fallen victim to the misconception that aligning yourself with an oppressive majority will shield you from discrimination. But it seems the movement to abandon trans people has also taken root within liberal circles. Representative Sarah McBride — a transgender woman herself — appeared on journalist Ezra Klein’s podcast in 2025 to discuss the complexities of queer identity. On policy, McBride suggested that transgender activists may have “overplayed their hand.”
Klein, a gay man who identifies as liberal, is also a proponent for excluding transgender people to expand the Democratic voting base. Policies to abandon leftist social issues are increasingly paraded as an end-all solution to restore Democratic popularity despite the numerous studies that show polling on wedge-issues would be largely inconsequential. Right-wing voters would never vote for the centrist Democrat when they could just vote for the Republican alternative spouting the same anti-transgender sentiment.
If there is no evidence proving the political impact of dropping the T, why are so many people in the gay community willing to shove trans people under the bus?
The momentum of the Gay Liberation Movement is slowly subsiding. As cisgender gays became increasingly accepted into wider society, they now enjoy a sense of privilege that came with assimilation. As conservative pushback intensifies, it seems that those who overcame 20th century homophobia are feeling the urge to pull the ladder up before anyone else has the chance to ascend the rungs.
It seems entirely illogical, and yet, there may be a psychological explanation. A study on the relationship between enduring adversity and opposition to reform used immigration to examine the pulling-up-the-ladder effect. It found that when comparing naturalized and birthright citizens, the perception of overcoming adversity led to a preference for expanding anti-immigration control. Thus, individuals who experience instrumental adversity are less likely to support easing the burden for others in the same situation.
This phenomenon works in tandem with the common misconception that proximity to power is protection, creating a desire to assimilate and placate an oppressive hierarchy. Instead of rejecting the systemic prejudice that socially centrist gays have overcome, they would rather trade trans rights to keep theirs for a little while longer.
We can no longer afford to be enamoured by the promise of equality made by oppressive institutions. If the government has the ability to eliminate trans rights, there is nothing stopping them from chipping away at privacy laws and marriage equality. Abandoning trans people at the bottom of the ladder is counterintuitive in the pursuit of liberation and disparages the very foundation of the fight for gay rights.
Written by: Anjali Iyer — amiyer@ucdavis.edu
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